Harry Potter and the Journey Beyond the Veil
by PartumAnimas
Summary: Sirius Black falls beyond the mysterious curtain to disappear from existence, Harry Potter, followed by his loyal best friends Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger ventures beyond the veil; the Trio therefore begin their quest to save the loyal padfoot.
1. Into the Void We Go

Chapter One

"SIRIUS!" Harry's voice echoed across the bare walls of the death chamber, each syllable ricocheted off the stone steps leading up towards the archway. His words, etched with the sound of desperation, fell dead on the still veil, his voice lost in the midst of a thousand whispers. Before Lupin could grab hold of him, Harry eluded his grasp and sprinted towards the velvet curtain, the veil that his Godfather had clung to helplessly in the few short seconds it took for the shadows to consume him. Harry pulled back the curtain in the half expectation that his Godfather would be there, silently chuckling and he would tousle Harry's hair and say "Gotcha." But all that existed beyond the curtain was a doorway to nothing, nothing except the distressed, muffled voices of the damned.

Harry Potter positioned himself dangerously close to the void and gripped with his all his might onto the stone cloister, a frantic cry of grief lingered on his lips. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, and saw the other Members of the Order caught it their own battles, with the exception of Lupin, who was heading straight for him. Bellatrix Lestrange on the other hand, was escaping in the other direction, a smile of accomplishment apparent on her evil face. Harry realised this was when he had to make a choice, a choice that could lead to uncertain death, and he had to make that choice fast. Either he changed his direction and sprinted after the witch, and avenged his Godfather for whatever fate she had sealed for him. Or, he could jump into the whispering emptiness where he would almost certainly meet his untimely end; _almost _certainly...

Suddenly he heard the quickening footsteps and guessed that Lupin was finally closing in on him, ready to usher Harry away from danger. That's when realised his decision had already been made. "I'm coming Sirius, hold on." He promised while he shivered in fearful anticipation, unsure whether they were to be his last words. Then he screwed up his eyes, tightened his fists and took a leap of faith, quite literally. Then he vanished without a trace. The last thing he heard, among the eerie whispers, was the far away voice of Remus Lupin hopelessly shouting "NO HARRY DON'T!" But the words of plea had arrived too late, and the boy who lived was gone.

Meanwhile, just several metres away, Ronald Weasley had been hit from a spell he had never encountered before and of its caster he was unaware; suddenly he was overwhelmed with the feeling of confusion and felt dazed: unsure where he was and what to do. However, as he heard Lupin shouting his best friend's name his eyes caught Harry's body disappearing into the curtain. "MATE!" he cried and he was shocked out of his predicament; the next thing he knew he was sprinting up towards archway just as Harry had done a few moments earlier. He stopped when he reached the still, mound that was the body of Remus Lupin who, having been distracted with Harry's uncertain fate, had been hit in the back with a rather large stunning charm, knocking him unconscious. "Sorry Professor..." Ron mumbled as he clambered over him, he still addressed him as professor, having often noted that calling teachers by their first names was just unnatural. "I'm coming mate."

He was about to throw himself into the space that Harry had disappeared when he felt a hand on his shoulder, it was Hermione. "Mione, don't say a word. That's our mate in there, that's Harry! Don't you think if it was the other way round he wouldn't hesitate to come after us? You can't stop-" he was cut-off mid-sentence when Hermione covered his mouth with her hand. "Oh, shut up will you, I'm not here to talk to out of it stupid! I'm coming with you!" she retorted, and then feeling bad about her bluntness she gave Ron a sincere smile of bravery. He took her hand and they both, with closed eyes and clammy palms, threw themselves into the void.


	2. Emptiness and Enemies

Harry Potter opened his eyes and grunted groggily, his head hurt like nothing he had felt before - and that was saying something. But as the realisation of what he had just done dawned upon him, he shot up - his body rigid and still. At first all he felt was relief and shock at the fact he wasn't dead, at least it didn't seem that way. Then his feelings evolved into confusion as he gathered his bearings and gazed at what surrounded him. Harry was sitting in a comfortable and warm four poster bed in a room that looked dangerously familiar to his Gryffindor dormitory. "What?" he cried out to no one but himself, it couldn't have been a dream; it was just too real... "Sirius?" Harry shouted out the name of the only man he could call family in the hope that his godfather would appear magically in front of him, much in the same way that his surrounding had; but of course, nothing happened.

Harry sighed and slumped back into his pillow, he desperately tried to think of a plan, a way to prove it wasn't a dream, something to convince himself this world was a trick; it was an illusion of the world on the other side of the veil. He decided the best and possibly only option would be exploring; he had to try and find something different, something that didn't fit. So, he sat up once again, this time less frantically, and pulled on a dressing gown; having woken up in pyjamas. He didn't have a means of knowing what the time was but he guessed by the temperature and the dark sky outside that it was early hours of the morning. He was about to check that with a simple spell when he realised he couldn't. He swivelled his body all the way round with his head looking at his back pocket; if anyone had been there to witness the scene it wouldn't have been that different to watching a dog chase its own tail. However as he finished his frantic twirl Harry Potter couldn't help but begin to panic. He didn't have his wand, and the prospect of coming across an enemy without a means of defending himself was having an effect on his heartbeat.

"This can't be real." He mumbled to himself; there was no way he would let himself lose his wand, it was his most valuable possession. What was he without his wand? He was just the boy with the dodgy cut and the ability to chat with serpents. "Argh!" He threw his head back in exasperation but decided he wasn't getting anywhere staying in the same place – even if it was safer. So he walked towards the wooden door, lifted the lock and pulled it open. So far, everything seemed normal, the only thing that worried him was the lack of people there had been in the dormitory; he had assumed he would hear some sort of commotion coming from the common room, but he couldn't hear a thing.

He slowly walked down the stone spiral staircase that led to the common room, counting each step as he went:not having his wand wasn't enough proof. Harry continued slowly moving, and as he did so he could hear the crackling of the fire in the hearth, giving the inclination that someone could be there; Harry hurried down the rest of the steps to check it out. But much to Harry's astonishment when he got there, the fire was not lit and there were no shadows being cast onto the burgundy, painting teemed walls. Though that was not what worried him, what worried him was that those very paintings were not moving. For all his wizarding life every painting he had recalled in the magical world moved, _so why didn't these?_ Harry suddenly heard the portrait door slam shut and he swivelled in one quick motion to face it.

"Sirius?" Harry said his name breathlessly before he registered the fact there was still not one other soul in the room. The smile that had been growing on his face died right there and then and Harry let out a simple, disheartened sigh. After he had shook off his disappointed emotions Harry deducted that someone must have been in common room and left without him seeing them, after all, paintings can't just slam shut on their own – not in this world evidently anyway. So, wanting to find out who or what it was, he quickly scampered out of the portrait hole.

All of a sudden Harry could hear whispers, whispers he couldn't help but think he had heard before. _Where had he heard them before?_ No matter how hard he tried he couldn't think of it, as if something was purposely restricting his memory. Nevertheless, the whispers were beginning to move further and further away and Harry was in no position to let himself get left behind. He ran after the voices, turning corner after corner, climbing staircase after stair case; all the while noting that he didn't come across any other person on his travels. Then, abruptly, the whispers stopped and Harry ground to a halt outside a bathroom. But this wasn't just any bathroom: it was the girls' bathroom on the third floor.

Harry gulped in anticipation as he tentatively pushed open the door that was already ajar. For once the floor was dry and instead of causing ripples, each of his footsteps echoed several times, making the already dark and silent room even more eerie. "Myrtle?" He whispered, not having to speak much louder; there was no reply. As he stood there, alone in the gloomy ambience, Harry wondered what he was meant to do next, and he studied each part of the room in perplexity. That was until his eyes rested upon the collection of sinks in the far right of the room, focusing on one basin in particular. He edged sheepishly closer and his hand clasped the faucet, feeling his way around it. At last he found what he had been looking for, or rather he didn't. The snake that had been engraved on the tap to mark the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in the Hogwarts he knew wasn't there; proof at last this wasn't Hogwarts, proof at last that he wasn't insane.

"Harry Potter," whispered a voice suddenly behind him; Harry couldn't help but smile to himself and without consideration, his mind thought Sirius and he quickly turned around. "I thought I'd never have the pleasure again, Mr. Potter." The voice's owner spoke with an evil smirk visible on his lips.

"You." Harry's mouth fell open in disbelief and as he backed into the sinks, he gasped the name of the boy in front of him. "Tom Riddle."


End file.
